This invention is directed a blanket that is used as a bed covering to keep a sleeper or sleepers warm and comfortable while sleeping. The invention is also directed to a fitted covering of that type that facilitates making up the bed and which also avoids having the sleeper inadvertently kick the covers off the bed while sleeping.
Fitted bed sheets, especially fitted bottom sheets, have become quite common to facilitate making up the bed after a night's sleep or when changing the bed covers. A number of proposals have been made also for fitted top sheets, in which a pocket is formed at the foot end of the sheet, and is intended to fit over the foot end of the mattress. Some examples of these are found, for example, in Mitchell U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,258; and McMahon Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,646. Other proposals for fitted combination bed coverings are found in Evanson U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,730; Golden U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,640; and McHorter U.S. Pat. No. 1,865,329. Some of these involve a generally rectangular “pocket” member sewn or otherwise formed at one end of the bed cover, with the pocket fitting around and under the foot end of the mattress to hold the item in place. However, these have all had rather short pocket member, i.e., extending only a few inches from the end of the mattress. If used as a top cover, i.e., a blanket, there is insufficient holding power to keep the sleeper from kicking the cover off the bed if he or she tosses or turns in the night. Also, for tall persons whose feet reach the end or nearly to the end of the bed, these earlier designs do not accommodate the person's feet if he or she attempts to reach the foot end of the bed. In addition, the blanket portion is not fastened or sewn to the pocket portion across the top edge of the pocket, and instead is sewn on an end or bottom panel of the pocket. This does not provide sufficient resistance to pushing the blanket off the bed.